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Historical Overview

The first United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in Miami opened in 1929, and was located at 100 N.E. 1st Avenue. In 1932, the Office moved into the U.S. Courthouse, 300 N.E. 1st Avenue, where one federal judge, the Honorable John W. Holland (former United States Attorney), presided. The Office remained very small until after World War II. In 1952, there were two part-time AUSAs and three support staff. Since then, the District has experienced a high rate of growth in AUSA personnel: from nine AUSAs in 1965 to a high of 265 in 2002. Today, the District has twenty-two U.S. District Court Judges and nineteen U.S. Magistrate Judges.

The primary office for the District is located at 99 N.E. 4th Street in Miami. The United States Attorney's Office has three other staffed offices: Fort Lauderdale, which opened in 1975; West Palm Beach, which opened in 1978; and Ft. Pierce, which opened in 1990. The United States Attorney also has a presence in Key West, where numerous cases are tried.

The State of Florida is the fourth most populous state in the country, and is divided into three federal judicial districts: Southern, Middle and Northern. The Southern District of Florida comprises 15,197 square miles and extends along more than 300 miles of coastline from Key West in the South to Vero Beach in the North. The District has more than six million people and covers nine separate counties: Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee, and Highlands.

The District is home to a number of federal enclaves, including the Homestead Air Reserve Base, the Miccosukee Indian Reservation, the Everglades National Park, and the U.S. Southern Command, Department of Defense.

In addition to more than twenty federal law enforcement agencies, there are approximately 120 state and local police agencies within the Southern District of Florida.